For people baffled as to how
scientists and mathematicians come up with such novel ideas, a new study
suggests they are higher on the autism spectrum making them far better
at logical thinking and seeing the bigger picture.

New research which tested nearly 500,000 people for autism traits and
compared it to their jobs found those in involved in STEM professions
(science, technology, engineering or mathematics) have more autistic
traits.

Autistic traits are
not the same as having a diagnosis of autism; instead, these are
characteristics of personality and behaviour that are found throughout
the general population and are linked to what is seen in the clinical
condition of autism.

Everyone has some autistic traits – such as difficulty in taking another
person’s point of view, difficulty in switching attention flexibly, and
excellent attention to detail – and there is a wide range in the
population.

The University
of Cambridge has developed a way of measuring these, using a
questionnaire called the Autism Spectrum Quotient, or AQ which comprises
50 questions, each one representing one autistic trait.

They found that people working in a STEM-related job had an average AQ
score of 21.9 compared to a score of 18.9 for individuals working in
non-STEM jobs. Previously Cambridge University has suggested that Albert
Einstein and Isaac Newton were both autistic. The study also backed up previous findings showing that men are more likely to be higher on the autism spectrum than women.

Photo: Simon Baron-Cohen

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen at the Autism Research Centre at the
University of Cambridge said: “Previous studies have found the number of
autistic traits a person has is influenced by both genetic factors and
prenatal testosterone levels. “These may shed light on why we
find males in the population on average have slightly more autistic
traits than females do, and why fathers and grandfathers of children
with autism are over-represented in STEM fields.” The research,
which was published in PLOS One, was carried out with Channel 4 for the
programme Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic. Read more... Additional resourcesSex
and STEM Occupation Predict Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) Scores in
Half a Million People. PLOS ONE; 21 October 2015 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141229 Source: Telegraph.co.uk

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Hello, my name is Helge Scherlund and I am the Education Editor and Online Educator of this personal weblog and the founder of eLearning • Computer-Mediated Communication Center.
I have an education in the teaching adults and adult learning from Roskilde University, with Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Human Resource Development (HRD) as specially studied subjects. I am the author of several articles and publications about the use of decision support tools, e-learning and computer-mediated communication. I am a member of The Danish Mathematical Society (DMF), The Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics (DSTS) and an individual member of the European Mathematical Society (EMS). Note: Comments published here are purely my own and do not reflect those of my current or future employers or other organizations.